White House asks Iran to comply on nuclear prog

Crawford (Texas), Dec 28: The White House said further non-compliance by Iran on its nuclear program would only ''worsen its situation'' in the international community and lead to a downward spiral for its people.

The comment came after Iran's parliament passed a bill obliging the government to ''revise'' the level of its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency nuclear watchdog, and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government to ''accelerate Iran's nuclear activities.'' The UN Security Council voted unanimously on Saturday to impose sanctions on Iran's trade in sensitive nuclear materials and technology.

The United States had pressed for UN sanctions when Tehran refused to stop uranium enrichment work, which Washington suspects is a cover for developing weapons. Iran insists its nuclear program is for civilian purposes.

''Further non-compliance by Iran will worsen its situation in the eyes of the world and likely lead to further IAEA reports of Iranian non-compliance under both its safeguard agreement and now under this resolution of the UN Security Council,'' White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said yesterday.

''It's hard to see how such a downward spiral is in the interest of the Iranian people,'' he told reporters.

''So we hope, therefore, that the Iranian regime will set aside threats and confrontation and begin immediately to cooperate with all of the requirements of the Security Council.''

Reuters

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